Like any next big step, heading off to college is often accompanied by stress and many recurring long dinner conversations with family members about what you’re going to study and how it’s going to fit into your life plan and make you amazingly successful. Having been through the college process myself, today I’m going to try and take the stress out of the heading-off-to-college experience for both you and your teen. I want you to know what aspects of the college experience are worth … [Read more...]
What To Do If Your Teen Hates School More Than Anything
I’m not a parent. I don’t know what it’s like to have a teen who hates school. I can’t imagine how frustrating that must be. But, I’ve tutored enough students to see how stressful and frustrating it is for parents. I get how badly you want your teen to do their best at school. I understand how crucial it is for your teen to get the best start possible to their young adult life. It’s excruciating to see a teen with truckloads of potential who doesn’t give toss about school. If this sounds … [Read more...]
Back to Basics – Get the subject foundations sorted first!
As tutors we learn something new about high school students and their relationship with school and studying every week. We work with students of all abilities. Some just need a tweak here and there. While others are only at base camp of the ‘Mt Everest of Understanding’ and are going to need to work exceptionally hard over the next few months leading up to their exams. Over the last few weeks the two of us have been talking about students who are considerably behind at school (but have … [Read more...]
Why The Classroom Doesn’t Cut It For Your Teen
You may be familiar with Malcolm Gladwell’s “10,000 Hour Rule”. In his book Outliers: The Story of Success, Gladwell claims that the common denominator of those who are ‘successful’ is that they’ve spent at least 10,000 hours developing/practicing/polishing their skill. 10,000 hours equates to approximately five years full time work at 40 hours a week. That’s a lot of hours. But are we really surprised by this claim? It’s not rocket science. People who spend a lot of time doing something … [Read more...]
Good Grades Are Only Part Of The Equation For Life Success
Today we’re going to talk about something a bit different to our normal study skills-based articles. We want to take a look at the bigger picture. Perspective is important. In a way it’s not ‘news’ to us, but we’ve come across a really interesting article on the findings of Christy Lleras, a professor of human and community development at the University of Illinois. Her findings highlight the pivotal importance of ‘soft skills’ in determining a high school student’s higher academic … [Read more...]